Compliance and Operations
We advise clients, large and small, in virtually every area of financial services regulation. Complying with regulators and having a sound operational base are key for regulated firms. We work with our clients (investment or retail) to develop these procedures and policies.
Authorisations
We regularly advise start-up businesses and their management teams on structuring proposed regulated activities, and the ensuing applications. Authorisation involves more than the completion of FSA forms. Firms seeking FSA approval need to put in place systems and controls, compliance procedures and customer documentation appropriate to the activities they propose. We have helped all sorts of businesses including overseas banks, broker/dealers and IFAs, in their applications to the FSA.
Contact
Jonathan Denton
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7440 4731
E-mail: jonathan.denton@mishcon.com
Regulatory Compliance
We also help firms whose regulated activities are secondary to their main business and firms in sectors which are not regulated but which are nevertheless affected by regulatory requirements, particularly relating to money laundering and financial crime. The pace of regulatory change is rapid and firms need to keep up with these changes as well as new FSA initiatives. We aim to keep firms up to speed with FSA developments, assist in their dealings with it, and advise on any other ongoing supervision and compliance procedure issues.
Contact
Jonathan Denton
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7440 4731
E-mail: jonathan.denton@mishcon.com
Service Provider Contracts
It might be an outsourcing agreement, the purchasing of services to manage or run a business or the overseeing of an SLA. Whichever, we advise regularly on the regulation of such key contracts. Experience and know-how ensure that contracts are robust from any perspective, commercial, regulatory or compliance. Typical is the advice we have given to firms outsourcing back office functions such as IT services, mortgage processing & collections and insurance claims handling.
Contact
Jonathan Denton
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7440 4731
E-mail: jonathan.denton@mishcon.com
Employment
Our Employment Team is one of the largest in London and one of a small number of Firms equally experienced in acting for employer as well as employee. Our reputation for negotiating successfully on behalf of employees leaving financial institutions has led to us being instructed in many of the highest profile employment cases in the finance and banking sector. In the recent landmark bonus case against Dresdner Bank all 10 cases were settled or won in the High Court.
We also advise financial institutions on day-to-day and more strategic people-related matters, such as bonus structuring in today’s more regulated world.
Contact
Jonanna Blackburn
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7440 7162
E-mail: joanna.blackburn@mishcon.com
Sales and Marketing
We advise all businesses on the key issues surrounding the FSA financial promotions regime: what is allowed, what is not and how to manage any risk. To this end we work with our clients on the content of marketing literature (including prospectuses) and develop scripts for use in sales meetings.
Contact
Jonathan Denton
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7440 4731
E-mail: jonathan.denton@mishcon.com